Sleight-of-Hand
by Nora May French
Summary: Steve considers the magic that he learned from his mother when he was just a kid. Tag to, "He Welo 'Oihana," aired 5/13/13


**Disclaimer:** I do not own the characters of this work of fiction, and no profit, monetary or otherwise, is being made through the writing of this.

**A/N:** Tag to,"He Welo 'Oihana," aired May 13th, 2013. For some reason, this episode wouldn't leave me alone, and, though I had other things to write, this is what needed to be written. I hope that maybe someone out there enjoys it.

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Steve remembers the magic tricks his mother used to play, and how they'd always wowed him, even when he was 'too old' to really be interested in his mother's magic tricks. There was just something about her sleight-of-hand that always got to him, made him strive to be just as good as she was, and one day wow her himself.

So, he'd watched her closely, rolled his eyes at her cheesy one-liners (_showmanship_, she'd call it), and tried to unravel the process in his mind. When he thought he had it, he'd practice, and practice, and then practice some more. But, as often happens when childhood merges into teen hood, magic lost its allure, because other things became more interesting – football, girls, cars – and he never mastered his mother's art.

And, then she'd died, and he'd lost all interest in magic. If magic was real – and it wasn't – then his mother wouldn't have died. It would've been just another illusion, his mother playing a trick on him, only to surprise him by popping up out of nowhere, saying, 'Ta-da!'

Except, that hadn't happened, and he was sent away, separated from his father and his sister. There was a gaping hole in his heart where his mother, and magic, had been.

And then, much like a magician pulling a rabbit out of a hat, or appearing out of thin air in a great cloud of smoke with a quiet 'poof,' she was back, trying to fill in the gaps that her absence had left. Unlike the magic Steve remembered from his mostly happy childhood – these gaps couldn't be filled in with a little bit of hocus pocus, or the waving of a wand, or cheesy one-liners that made him feel all of nine years old again.

There's a large part of Steve that's afraid that if he turns his back, for just a second – because that's all it takes to trick the human eye – his mother will dissipate, like magician's smoke, and he'll be left to once again pick up the pieces of a broken life, alone. So, Steve does what he can to protect himself, and his new family – Danny, Chin, Kono, Catherine, and even his mother come back from the dead.

Steve keeps an eye on his mom, because he doesn't trust her not to give him the slip again, fake another death – playing magic with his life. He's since learned the magic that his mother tried to teach him, and more.

Steve's got tricks up his sleeve that he doesn't think even his mother knows about, and he doesn't doubt that she's got some new tricks of her own that she's just itching to perform at just the right moment, when she's sure she can pull the wool over his eyes without him being any the wiser.

He's not going to hold his _magic breath_ trying to guess where and when she'll perform her next act of chicanery. All he can do is watch and wait, and try not to blink.

Steve smiles at his mother when they're home-free, because, this time, like it did nearly twenty years ago, the magic worked, though it was much too close for his peace of mind. He tries not to worry about the next time when he won't be quick enough, or the magic malfunctions – the eye drawn to the Ace hidden up his mother's sleeve – and he loses her, this time for good, no smoke and mirror, no legerdemain at work.

When Danny asks him about it later, Steve will shrug it off; play his own hand at magic and deception. Because, he doesn't want to lose his best friend to the, 'family business,' that is modern incantations of, "abracadabra," and people vanishing into thin air, like the wicked witch melting in a pool of water turned to smoke.

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Reviews would be greatly appreciated. Mahalo


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